


On the Cliffside

by blazinglycoris



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 04:00:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17358527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blazinglycoris/pseuds/blazinglycoris
Summary: Was it happening again?Was he hurting Quartet Night the way he hurt Aine?Reiji was at his breaking point, luckily Ai seemed to know exactly where to find him.Was it luck?Was it coincidence?Was it this Aine person Reiji confused him with?





	On the Cliffside

**Author's Note:**

> based on the episode of the anime where they find Reiji by the beach after he disbands QN. I kept thinking about Aine and how Reiji gravitated to the beach like he wanted to talk with him after everything happened. I also couldn't help but wonder what Reiji would have done if they hadn't found him in time.

Reiji parked his car by the cliffs and stood out. He could feel the cool ocean breeze and hear the waves crashing on the rocks below, he felt closest to Aine here, even after all this time. He sat down near the barricade separating off the edge of the cliff and looked out over the ocean. It was dark, the only light coming from his car headlights, but being able to look out over this place calmed him.  
“Hey, Aine, you there?” he let his voice trail off and listened closely, as if expecting Aine to reply. “I ended Quartet Night today, I couldn’t take it and left.” Reiji let out a sigh and pulled his legs up close to his chest “I didn’t know what else to do, Ai-Ai, everyone was fighting, they said it was my fault. All I wanted was for everyone to get along and be happy, I thought…I thought if we lived together a bit we’d bond.” That bubbly voice he’d put up for everyone in Quartet Night was gone now, it seemed weak and distant, this was the Reiji he could never let them see. Ever since it’d happened, ever since Aine had killed himself, and Reiji was blamed for it, he’d shut himself out from others. he couldn’t risk that happening again, he couldn’t lose anyone else. He’d put on this overly happy personality as the leader of Quartet Night so nobody would worry, but he hadn’t felt like himself since he’d lost Aine.  
“Do you still hate me for what i did, was it really my fault for not noticing..for not being there?” Every time Reiji had come here he’d ask that question, and each time the only reply was the sound of waves crashing against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff. “I loved you ai Ai, I never meant for..I never wanted to hurt you, I’m so sorry.” Reiji stood up and put his hands on the barricade sectioning off the edge of the cliff, he gripped it tight and looked out “is this my fault again, was I hurting Quartet Night like I hurt you, was I just useless after all?” He stepped over the barricade and looked down at the rocks below. “If I come meet you Aine, would you forgive me, would you and Quartet Night finally forgive me?”  
“REIJI!” he heard an all too familiar voice call out and jumped back against the barricade. “Reiji what are you doing, get away from that ledge, you’ll fall.” Reiji turned and saw a figure illuminated by his headlights and gasped.  
“Ai-Aine is that, no you can’t be..” the figure ran over and pulled Reiji over the barricade and shook him roughly.  
“What did you think you were doing, Reiji, why were you on the edge of that cliff?” Reiji looked up and could see the man more clearly now, it was Aine shaking him and calling his name.  
“I was…I thought if I was gone you’d be at peace and I couldn’t hurt Quartet Night like I’d hurt you. Aine I was out of options,” Reiji’s voice wavered and he sank back against the barricade as he felt Aine let him go  
“What do you mean out of options, Reiji you’re lucky I had the thought to come find you here.” Aine’s voice was stern but concerned, a familiar voice that had playfully scolded him many times, it was almost comforting. “I don’t know how i thought of this place, it felt like we’d both come here a lot.”  
“I always come here when I need to think, sometimes I’d talk to you hoping you’d be able to hear me, and now..now you’re,” Reiji ran forward to hug Aine “now you’re actually here, i thought I’d lost you Aine!”  
“Ai..ne?” Ai replied confused, why was he calling him that “Reiji it’s me, it’s Mikaze, Mikaze Ai.”Kotobuki jumped back and looked at him confused, glancing Ai up and down as if he were someone different, did he believe he was Aine. Aine…going over the name, it felt familiar, Ai felt a flash of code run through his head and winced,“Who is Aine, why did you call me that, and why is that name so familiar?”  
Reiji looked over Aine in confusion, what did he mean, and saw the familiar face of his bandmate staring at him with a pained expression. “Mikaze..oh Ai-Ai it’s you, forget about that ok.” Reiji let out a playful laugh and walked over to pat Ai on the shoulder, as he got closer he did notice all the similarities he shared with Aine. Both of them shared the same hair color and bright green eyes, was this coincidence? Ai frowned and pushed Reij’s hand away, had he said too much? “Why don’t you just go home, I’ll give you a ride.” Reiji pointed towards his car.  
“I’m not leaving until you tell me what you were doing on that cliff, and why you thought I was this Aine. Reiji, you nearly killed yourself, I’m not just going home.” Ai grabbed one of his bandmates arms and held him back, he gave a sigh and turned to face him.  
“Fine,” Reiji sighed defeated “I’ll tell you about him.” he pushed off Ai’s hand and walked back towards the barricade. “Aine was..he was my best friend, and this, this is the last place he was seen alive.” Reiji looked out over the ocean, his car headlights illuminating him against the black water. Ai walked up to stand next to him, glancing at him to get him to continue. “We went to school together, and he was an amazing idol who always shone brighter than the others in our year. You remind me a lot of him actually.” He’d never told anyone this story before, it had been so long ago but Reiji could still remember it clearly. “Aine debuted first, and was finally able to show everyone how brightly he shown on stage,, but sometimes you could see something underneath. Something about him seemed off, but he was happy so nobody pressured him.” Reiji gripped the barricade with his hands, those memories of Aine still hurt after these years, but he knew Ai would not be satisfied until he knew.  
“You said this was the last place he was seen alive, did he die here?” Ai’s voice was blunt and he looked at Reiji, for the first time Ai noticed that he was not wearing a smile. His face was sad and hollow, and he gripped the barricade tightly as if he was in pain. Was this what he was really like?  
“Aine liked being out here to think, he loved looking out over the ocean,” Reiji continued, his voice shaking. “One night he came out and disappeared, we were told he’d jumped off the cliff and took his life.” Tears started welling up in his eyes, how long had it been since he’d last cried? “It was my fault, I hadn’t been there for him, I hadn’t noticed how he felt,” he wiped a hand across his eyes to dry them “everyone told me that...everyone said it was because of me.”  
“You couldn’t have known, it was not your fault,” Ai interjected and moved closer to Reiji “R..Reiji you’re…”  
“It was my fault!” Reiji wailed as tears streamed down his face “Everything is always my fault!” “Reiji you’re annoying! Reiji you’re his best friend! Reiji he called you and you didn’t answer!” Why was he breaking like this, in front of Ai, but he couldn’t stop crying. He felt ai put an arm around him in attempt to console him, but Reiji just kept crying. “I thought..I thought if I never told you guys everything would be fine, we’d get along, and Quartet Night would do great things.” he sobbed “I thought, I thought I wouldn’t hurt anyone again.”  
“R..Reiji you didn’t…we didn’t know. You should have told us something this important.”  
“You all said we were only co workers, I was trying..trying so hard to make it work, being the leader, being happy.” his sobbing became more uncontrollable and he leaned himself against Ai in attempt to steady himself he could feel his breath shaking as he cried, why wouldn’t this stop? why? why couldn’t he stop crying? “Everyone just fought, everyone blamed me, it was my fault again, for trying to force us to be friends.” Reiji’s voice became broken with crying and everything sounded garbled. Ai kept his arm around him and held him there, unsure of how to respond.  
“It…it wasn’t your fault,” he was trying his best to run responses through his programming, dealing with such a rush of human emotions wasn’t something he was normally comfortable with. Reiji was completely breaking down, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. A small flash of code ran through his head, like a memory, and he felt a throbbing pain in his head.  
“Not..his…fault…h..help..him.” Ai could hear a garbled voice in the back of his mind, his head throbbing even more. Was this...Aine?  
“I..I’m so sorry I hurt you guys…please just..go and be happy even if it isn’t with Quartet Night,” Reiji tried to choke out those words but he couldn’t stop crying. He had to stop, he had to leave before this got worse. He felt Ai turn him and hold him closer against his chest.  
“Reiji, you didn’t hurt anyone ok.” the only thing he could think to do was run his hands along Reiji’s back to try and calm him “everyone was just emotional, we need you or we’re not Quartet Night.” Reiji continued to sob, but Ai continued trying to calm him. “Even those two were worried about you, they’re probably off trying to find you as well.” He continued running his hands gently along Reiji’s back, and Reiji’s breathing quieted and his sobbing died down. “I know we’ve never said we were friends,” Ai whispered. “ but I truly believe all of us know that Quartet night is a family, we’re meant to be together.”  
“Ai..Ai-Ai….” Reiji’s voice was quiet as he held himself close to Ai “I’m sorry…”  
“You’re ok, that’s what matters,” Ai quietly spoke and held Reiji close “if this is what you need then…” that voice rang out in Ai's head again, bringing with it another wave of pain.  
“Rei….I…I’m..sorry..”  
“Aine wouldn’t want you to continue to think you were at fault for what happened, he’d be proud of what you’ve done with Quartet Night.” Ai let Reiji continue to cry and held him. Whoever Aine was, Ai felt this strange connection. This place, Reiji, Aine’s death, it was as if he was trying to tell Ai something. Was it Aine who had lead him here, was it Aine who helped him save his bandmate? Reiji continued to cry, his face pressed against Ai’s shirt, he had to be tired after all this. “Hey, Reiji,” Ai slowly moved his bandmate away from him “let’s go home, I’m sure the others are probably back by now.”  
“Reiji wiped his eyes, they were probably red and puffy from all that crying, How embarrassing for Ai to have seen an adult in such a state. He looked out at the ocean one more time, a cool breeze ran across his face as if Aine was trying to comfort him. “Alright Ai-Ai,” Reiji replied “let’s go find the others.”


End file.
